Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wants the NFL to stay out of the state's business and not threaten it over a controversial bathroom bill being considered by the state Legislature.
The NFL said last week that Texas, which hosted Super Bowl 51 in Houston, could miss out on hosting another Super Bowl if the proposed legislation is passed.
Abbott said Tuesday during an appearance on the Glenn Beck Program that the NFL "is walking on thin ice" after making those comments.
“The NFL needs to concentrate on playing football and get the heck out of politics,” Abbott said.
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NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Friday that if proposed laws that are "discriminatory or inconsistent with our values were to become law (in Texas), that would certainly be a factor considered when thinking about awarding future events."
Those comments didn't sit well with Abbott, a Republican.
“For some low-level NFL adviser to come out and say that they are going to micromanage and try to dictate to the state of Texas what types of policies we’re going to pass in our state, that’s unacceptable,” Abbott told Beck.
“We don’t care what the NFL thinks and certainly what their political policies are because they are not a political arm of the state of Texas or the United States of America," Abbott added. "They need to learn their place in the United States, which is to govern football, not politics.”
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The NBA moved the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, N.C., to New Orleans because of the league's objection to North Carolina's House Bill 2, which limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and it requires people to use the restroom that corresponds to their birth gender in public facilities. The NCAA relocated seven championship events from North Carolina last year in response to HB2.
Texas' proposed legislation is similar to HB2. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, also a Republican, introduced the bill in early January.
Abbott also criticized NFL players who sat or kneeled during the national anthem last season as a protest of racial oppression. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the first to kneel during the anthem, doing it before an exhibition game.
"I cannot name or even count the number of Texans who told me that they were not watching the NFL," Abbott said. "They were protesting the NFL this year because of the gross political statement allowed to be made by the NFL by allowing these players, who are not oppressed, who are now almost like snowflake little politicians themselves unable to take the United States national anthem being played."